ST. LOUIS – St. Louis Blues President John Davidson announced today the club has signed goaltender Chris Holt.

Holt, 23, has played in two games with the Peoria Rivermen this season, posting a 2-0-0 record, a .915 save percentage and a 2.00 goals against average.

Holt has spent the last three seasons in the New York Rangers system. The 6-3, 221-pound netminder saw one game of NHL action in 2005-06 with the Rangers. Last season, Holt split time between the ECHL’s Charlotte Checkers where he posted a 15-13-2 record, 2.72 goals against average and .915 save percentage, and the Hartford Wolf Pack (5-3-0, 2.42 GAA, .906 save %).

The South Surrey, British Columbia native was originally drafted by the New York Rangers in the sixth round, 180th overall in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

More than a little bit of discussion here lately regarding Todd McClellan’s contribution to the Wings’ defensive success the last few years. Thought this quote, courtesy of Supreme Blogger George Malik, might shed a little light.

“I know Todd was a head coach for a long time, a thinker, liked hockey, had coached in Jacques Lemaire’s organization in that system, so he had a lot of good things to talk about, whether that be on the penalty kill or power play or team defense,” Babcock said.

Montreal Canadiens Executive Vice President & General Manager Bob Gainey is the guest on the NHL Hour today, hosted by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. The show is on now, from 4-5 p.m. ET on XM Satellite Radio (204) and Sirius (208).

* While on the air, listeners can call into the show at 1-877-645-6696, or send questions/comments via this email address: nhlhour@nhl.com
**Archived shows available for download via podcast on NHL.com.

Teams with greater revenue, even in a salary-capped system, have a better chance of competing at a higher level than teams that do not.

A classic example comes just from looking at the top and bottom of the Forbes list. The Leafs may not be good at what they do when it comes to the hockey operations, but they at least are not hindered by financial considerations when it comes to finding a new general manager or, should they choose, invest in scouting and development.

Compare that to the Phoenix Coyotes, a franchise the magazine estimates is worth $142 million and might be in need of new ownership or even relocation.

The Southeast Division has been the weakest division in the NHL for the last several years. Last year, only the Washington Capitals made the playoffs of the southeast teams. Washington won the division. They needed a very strong stretch run to get 94 points which tied for the lowest total of all east playoff teams. The other four southeast teams all missed the playoffs. Given the large number of intra-division in the unbalanced schedule last year that is quite an achievement.

This year doesn’t look like it will be much different. If the season ended right now, based on current point totals only Washington would make the playoffs again. They would tie for the worst point total among east teams again.

MONTREAL – Following the Marine Investigation Report from the Transportation Safety Board published earlier Thursday, the Gainey family issued the following statement:

The Gainey family fully supports the findings of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada’s investigation in its report released today, and we urge Transport Canada to act on the safety concerns raised in this report.

The Board’s findings support that Laura was a hard working and dedicated member of the crew, who took her responsibilities very seriously. It was in the execution of her duties, extremely fatigued and under very difficult circumstances that she was swept off the ship. We are very proud of our Laura.

The report identifies several causes and factors that contributed to the accident, including the absence of effective onboard communication, the lack of safety nets and harnesses and fatigue. It suggests that the decision to sail was flawed.

This report should be compulsory reading for everyone associated with the sail training industry, and it would be valuable for anyone involved in the adventure tourism industry. It is a case study for ensuring that stringent safety and risk management systems be in place.

The Picton Castle has made some changes, there is still more that can be done. We would ask the owners and master of the ship to fully implement an audited safety management system, to set a standard of excellence for their industry and to rigorously maintain it.

We also ask, given the mystifying and disappointing action of the Cook Islands Registry over the last 20 months, that the Picton Castle terminate this relationship and register the ship under a Canadian flag.

Our goal was to find out what led to Laura’s death, and the TSB’s thorough and independent investigation has given us this information. We are grateful for this and for the closure it brings.

Finally, our thoughts are often with the crew and trainees who were on board this fateful voyage in December 2006, we are thankful for their exceptional efforts in trying to recover Laura in such challenging conditions. We know they did their best with the tools they had available to them.

Count me in for some NHL viewing tonight. OK, so I do that every night (much to my wife’s chagrin), but seriously, there’s a pair of real compelling matchups tonight with Detroit at San Jose and Montreal at Minnesota….

As expected, the Wings and Sharks already top the Western Conference standings. It’s only late October, but you know these kinds of games are important for a San Jose team trying to finally break through after four seasons of contending.

Sibling rivalry will be taken to a new level Thursday night when Saku and Mikko Koivu face off against each another in Minnesota.

The game will mark the first time in NHL history that two brothers will clash as captains — Saku is the long-time captain of the Canadiens, while Mikko was given the “C” by the Minnesota Wild before this season.

About Kukla’s Korner

Kukla’s Korner is updated around the clock with the work of our own talented bloggers, plus links to the best hockey writing around the internet. We strive to bring you all the breaking hockey news as it happens.

The home page allows you to see the latest postings from every blog on the site. Subscribe here. For general inquiries and more, please contact us anytime.